Ingredients
Good quality Chinese chicken stock - 1 cup
Coconut milk - 1 cup
Fresh or frozen lemongrass - 1/2 a stalk
Galangal - fresh - 6 slices (If you don’t have any at home, you can order some online)
Kaffir Lime Leaves - 2 (hand-torn)
Thai bird’s eye chillies (or Serrano chillies) - 2-3 (big slices so you can avoid them easily)
Fish sauce - 1 tbsp (The saltiness can vary a lot across brands, so start with less always.)
Lime juice - 2 tbsp
Sugar - 1/2 tsp
Coriander (cilantro for the Americans) leaves - 2 tbsp
Boneless chicken breast - 50 gm (chopped)
Straw mushrooms (or regular button mushrooms) - 4 (sliced)
(opt. pepper, soy sauce)
Preparation
lemongrass, use only the bottom white part (about 6 inches) and discard the woody grass part of it?. With the flat side of a cleaver or a heavy object, pound and bruise the lemongrass so it releases the flavour. Cut into 2 inch segments.
Put the stock into a pot and bring to a boil. Toss the galangal, lemongrass, sugar, and lime leaves in. Simmer for 5 minutes.
Add the coconut milk, chillies, fish sauce and simmer for another 5 minutes.
Finally, add the chicken and mushrooms and cook till the chicken is just cooked. The moment you see it turning all white on the outside, it’s 90% done.
Turn off the heat, add lime juice and garnish with coriander leaves. Test for saltiness and sourness. You should get the earthy flavour of galangal, noticeable amount of saltiness, sweetness from the coconut milk, and a fair bit of lime flavour, with a hint of chilli in the background. If required, adjust with more fish sauce (salt) and lemon juice (sour).
